The government took all sectors of the property industry by surprise over the weekend by claiming it would “transform” buying and selling.

A statement issued by housing minister Matthew Pennycook says that by making information available at people’s fingertips, it will be far less likely for surprises to be encountered later on in the process. This will make it easier for people to get onto the housing ladder, reduce the requirement to share ID in-person in the long-term, and decrease the number of transactions collapsing.  

The government says fall throughs – which impact one in three transactions – cost people around £400m  a year, on top of the four million working days lost by conveyancers and estate agents alone which is equivalent to £1 billion. 

It adds that information such as building control and highways information is predominantly paper-based or recorded in non-machine-readable formats. On top of this, where data is available electronically, there are no established protocols for accessing, sharing and verifying that data which leads to more delays.  

But under a fully digitalised home buying and selling process, the information key parties need – from mortgage companies to surveyors – will be within reach immediately, with the necessary identity checks carried out once.  Clear information early on will mean there are no surprises late on in the transaction which might cause it to fall through, so instead the transaction is completed smoothly without unnecessary time, energy or money spent.  

“By bringing the process into the digital age, and learning from success stories such as Norway where transactions complete in around one month, the government is putting more money into the pockets of hardworking people and delivering on our Plan for Change to grow the economy” says Pennycook.

The government says it is working hand-in-hand with the property market, supported by HM Land Registry (HMLR), and is announcing a 12-week project to identify the design and implementation of agreed rules on data for the sector, so that it can easily be shared between conveyancers, lenders and other parties involved in a transaction. 

HMLR will also build on its work in digitising property information and lead 10-month pilots with a number of councils to identify the best approach to opening up more of their data and making it digital, whilst the government pushes ahead with plans for digital identity verification services including in the property sector. 

Pennycook comments: “We are streamlining the cumbersome home buying process so that it is fit for the twenty-first century, helping homebuyers save money, gain time and reduce stress while also cutting the number of house sales that fall through … These reforms build on the government’s Plan for Change to deliver higher living standards and 1.5 million safe and decent homes in this Parliament.” 

The government proposals have been welcomed by some of the players involved in transactions.

Beth Rudolf of the Conveyancing Association calls the government proposals “incredibly positive” and says: “We have been heavily involved in pushing forward the digital property data agenda and what greater provision can achieve. We believe this is not just about its use for home buying and selling, but it will provide far greater benefits across the lifecycle of property, enabling parties to have the right view of the property data whenever they transact or need to act, whether that is a remortgage, altering or finding a planning application, for letting purposes, or retrofitting to meet net zero targets.

“There are also some wider benefits that are often discounted but which should be generated by this, including: for the economy in terms of not having people in housing ‘stasis’ for long periods of any year meaning they can get on with their lives, be economically active and contribute to UK GDP; the environment, as it will mean the government can see the quality of the housing stock digitally allowing it to target where its funding/grants/loans should be delivered in order to achieve retrofitting; the NHS, in terms of helping reduce the health issues often caused by people living in poor housing conditions; plus our housing sector, and the conveyancing industry in particular, as it will reduce waste and duplication of tasks which often adds significant amounts of time to the whole buying/selling process.”

And Rightmove chief executive Johan Svanstrom comments:”If the plans set out today can further the access to information and an improved transaction process, it’s also critical to drive industry-wide adoption of tech solutions and collaboration to make it a success. 

“Our latest data shows it takes fivepainful months on average to move into a home after having an offer accepted. This is on top of the initial two months it usually takes a seller to find and agree an offer with a buyer. It means someone listing on Rightmove today would only conclude their sale in September, and that kind of timeline is really not good or effective for anyone. The current process also contributes to an average of more than one in five home sales falling through, and hopefully a better process can help reduce this as well.

“It’s not an easy task as there are so many data points, and different ways of gathering them, for a home listing and sale. The tech and data teams at Rightmove have been digitising and standardising data collection for many years, and we think it’s definitely achievable to take it further with the right technologies, and a strong public and private effort. We look forward to helping the government with their plans for progress. We can leverage our platform reach to support home-movers and help our estate agent partners realise this benefit.”